Glossary (2)

glaze

Vitreous coating applied to the surface of a ceramic to make it impermeable or for decorative effect.

stoneware

Ceramic material made of clay which is fired to a temperature of c.1200-1300⁰c and is often buff or grey in colour.

Location

currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

Publications online

The glaze colour on this piece is the result of misfiring, probably due to oxidization in the kiln. The desired ideal would have been a bluish green, derived from reduction-firing. The best colours were achieved by the Longquan kilns in the Southern Song period (1127–1279); in the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), firing was on the whole less well controlled.

The deep rounded dish has a flat everted rim and a tapering foot. Two small sprig-moulded fish are applied in the centre and the outside is carved with slender lotus petals in relief. The glaze has misfired to an intense yellowish brown, and the unglazed footring is of similar colour.